40th Anniversary Celebration / Dutch R4 Club Jubilee Celebration
Arnhem, Holland, 7-9 September 2001

FULL REPORT

The event took place during the weekend 7th - 9th September 2001. I drove in my own R4GTL accompanied by my brother navigating, whilst my sister and her boyfriend travelled in their red GTL behind us. We set off from Hove in Sussex at 5.30 Friday morning, just reaching our ferry from Dover in time at 8.00. It was a long drive through France, Belgium and Holland to Arnhem, and we finally arrived at around 16.00 local time. We did however get lost at least twice, adding around 50 miles and over an hour to our journey! Blame that on the lousy instructions I printed using Autoroute Express Europe. Bizarrely, it wasn't until we were a mile away from the campsite that we spotted the first R4 of the day, we were getting worried we wouldn't see one at all and that it had all been cancelled or something. Once through the gates of the site however we were in some kind of dreamworld, with R4's of every type, age, colour and condition around every corner. It was a very good campsite with many facilities, and rather than having one large boring field like many British sites, everything was sectioned into small areas surrounded by hedges and lush greenery. I would recommend the site and the surrounding countryside to anyone planning a holiday in the Netherlands. Unlike most of the country which is flat, the Arnhem area and the nearby National Park (Park De Hoge Veluwe) were very picturesque.

Click here for some early photos from the campsite. (4 pictures)

We weren't too lucky with the weather - the whole weekend was a strange mixture of torrential downpours and rays of sun, but it didn't spoil things too much. On Friday evening we were handed a bag of goodies, containing a special edition plate to attach to the car, a commemorative t-shirt, tickets for the various events, lollipops, sweets, R4 pen and notepad, some playing cards, and various other bits and bobs. After a great meal and a few drinks in the restaurant, me and my sister set off walking in almost pitch black darkness and drizzle to investigate some of the cars around the site, meeting a few late night revellers on the way.

More photos from around the campsite. (5 pictures)

Saturday morning we had a browse around the stalls selling R4 spares and accessories, though I was unable to fulfill any of my shopping list, which consisted of silly bits and pieces that I'll probably never find anyway. Then we got our directions for the tour, which took most of the day to complete. All the R4's set off throughout the day on a set route around the region, completing about 60 miles. There were stops for various attractions, including a mustard factory in a local town, a Dickens museum situated in Holland's smallest city, a working windmill, a classic car museum and a toy museum, all with free entry to the R4 drivers. The tour encompassed the winding roads of the hilly national park, crossing a river on a car ferry, stopping off for a free apple and a chance to fill out an R4 quiz in the forest, a stop at an ice cream shop, and spotting Renault 4's around every turn, often going the other way because they were lost. Later that evening, all the guests gathered for a special celebratory dinner, at which the organiser Ronnie Peters gave an address. And I ended up at the end of the night, unsurprisingly, in the bar on the other side of the site, taking further jibes from my colleagues about my 'moist tent', which appeared to be lacking any kind of waterproofing device when compared to everybody else's.

Click here for photos from the Saturday tour of the region. (8 pictures)

And some more from the tour. (8 pictures)

Bjorn Bjerkeskaug sent some extra photos from the windmill. (2 pictures)

The Saturday night celebration dinner. (2 pictures)

Sunday morning everyone awoke to a loud air raid siren, prompting R4 drivers to take to their cars in a long procession to the Openlucht Museum a couple of miles away. Fortunately I avoided this noisy onslaught by taking a hot shower to alleviate the dampness I had endured in my soggy abode - I'd have been better off sleeping in the car than the tent! Unfortunately we were too late getting packed up to join the procession, but we made it to the museum later on, having been given our free breakfast bag. The R4 exhibition at the museum had taken a long time to plan, and drivers were under strict orders to arrive there before 10.00 if they wanted to drive into the museum grounds and join the concour d'elegance parade. Sadly our return journey to Britain meant boarding the ferry at 21.30 and we needed to exit the museum by 15.30 to make it on time. So we had to remain parked outside along with many other drivers, as all cars inside could not leave before 17.00. I hardly think however that either my sister's or my own car would have won any awards, considering the number of other sparkling examples on display. Most of the cars lined up inside the museum entrance for the public to view, with more parked in the centre of the grounds. The Openlucht Museum occupies a massive site covering several acres, and has many buildings and exhibits demonstrating Dutch rural life through the ages. There is a tram which travels around the site stopping off at various points of interest. Again I would recommend a visit here to anybody taking a holiday nearby.

Back at the campsite on the Sunday morning. (7 pictures)

Preparing to leave the campsite for a procession to the museum. (8 pictures)

We took a trip around the Openlucht Museum by tram. (5 pictures)

A second group of R4's gathered near the windmills in the centre of the museum. (8 pictures)

Also in the museum was an exhibition of the history of the R4, containing advertisements and promotional material from the last 4 decades. Some of this was fascinating, particularly the hilarious poster designed for the Renault 4 Jogging special edition, which features some ladies and gents attired in 'trendy' matching jogging costumes circa 1981 - very of its time. There was another chance to buy many R4 products from the Dutch R4 Club stall. I would have bought the lot but settled in the end for a Renault 4 wallet, which I later bored everybody to death talking about because of its many wondrous compartments. All R4 owners had free tickets for refreshments, and after lunch I set off to complete the arduous task of photographing as many of the attendant R4's as possible. Many of the vehicles set off on a parade around the grounds of the museum before returning to the concourse. I had to give up on the idea of snapping every car, but did manage to get pictures of the majority of them. If yours are missing from those which appear on this site, or you don't think my pictures are good enough, then please do send your own in. I would also be grateful for any other stories or information you can offer about your car or the event. We thought we had travelled far enough from the UK, but we encountered others from as far afield as Rome, Oslo, Ireland and Japan!

More vans by the museum mills. (8 pictures)

On the way back to the concourse. (4 pictures)

Back at the concourse. (7 pictures)

Second batch from the concourse. (5 pictures)

So we had to leave early which was a shame, as I understand the remaining Renault 4's returned to the campsite for an awards presentation and closing ceremony later in the afternoon. The drive home was long and dangerous, as we had to drive through torrential rain much of the way on flooded motorways, with spray everywhere and poor visibility even with the wipers on double speed. Both myself and my sister started skidding a few times but managed to keep control. We did however meet a crazy Renault 4 on the way who kept playing tag with us. It appeared behind us just as we approached the tunnel at Antwerp, and we overtook each other a few times for the next 30 or 40 miles, drawing up alongside each other to wave and make faces. We managed to capture a moment of this on the video, which you can view by clicking the link at the bottom of the page. The rain died down but the winds battered our cars as we crossed the plains of northern Belgium and France at dusk. It seemed at some points the cars might topple over as you could feel the impact of the wind on driving, especially when overtaking lorries, and I think the weight in the cars with all our luggage kept us upright.

Martin Jonker sent some more photos from the museum. (3 pictures)

The Renault 4 camper van! (3 pictures)

Organiser Ronnie Peters' car and others. (5 pictures)

Get some fun out of life - go pirate surfing? (5 pictures)

The worst was yet to come however, when we boarded the ferry across the English Channel. We had been warned by Dutch R4 owner Peter Pigmans at the museum earlier in the day, that there was a strong gale on its way across the Channel and northern Europe that evening. We were travelling on one of the modern, small, fast Hoverspeed boats as opposed to the traditional large ferries, and this made the crossing much worse. All seemed well as we set off, but as we watched and laughed at the safety video, our laughter turned to horror as the captain announced we should stay in our seats because the sea was very choppy. As soon as we broke out the harbour at Calais, the boat started lunging to and fro, tremors went through the vessel as it crashed into waves, people struggled to walk around, duty free goods fell off the shelves and staff looked anxious. Through the side windows, we could see the lights of the shore plunging up and down and it felt like being on a very badly designed rollercoaster. Most people put their heads down and tried to avoid throwing up. The large P&O ferry we overtook on the way looked a picture of tranquility in comparison, but as we reached Dover things calmed down.

Ruud Wind goes jogging at a rodeo? (7 pictures)

There's a 'super' car amongst this lot. (4 pictures)

More from the concourse. (5 pictures)

The world's only Renault 4 and a half? (3 pictures)

The drama was still not over, because when we drove off the ferry towards passport control, my sister had a flat tyre. The customs officials were actually very helpful though and fetched us a trolley jack straight away, so it only took a few minutes for my sister to change the wheel. Both our cars survived the trip very well, although later in the week my car became almost undriveable due to a broken near side drive shaft, which I had to have replaced.

Still more from the concourse. (7 pictures)

Irish honeymoon in a Renault 4. (5 pictures)

See if these 'jog' your memory. (6 pictures)

More photos of the pre 1980 category winner have been forwarded by Ronnie Peters. (4 pictures)

So all things considered we had a great time and thought it was all well worth the effort and cost to attend. The event was a great success, and I'd like to thank everyone who helped organise it, and I hope they'll be many more in the future. There had clearly been a lot of hard work gone into preparing everything. I would guess this might be the biggest R4 gathering there has ever been, or there will ever be, but let's hope R4 appreciation will continue long into the new century.

Six fours and one six. (7 pictures)

Martin Jonker sent another set of photos, including the exhibition and the R4 SOVAM. (4 pictures)

Going on safari.......in the Netherlands. (4 pictures)

Marieke Michielsen sent some additional photos of her Safari and other cars at the event. (4 pictures)

You can find rosettes next to the pictures of the award winners at the concour d'elegance. Most of the photos have been cropped and resized to some degree, but if anybody would like a larger uncropped image from the event, I can forward them via email if you let me know the picture number. To find this, hover the mouse over any picture, or right-click on it and show its properties. Email me at 4play@renault4.plus.com

Leaving the museum. (4 pictures)

More from the museum car park. (7 pictures)

A couple of old Renault vans in the car park. (2 pictures)

Alfred Noort sent some photos from the journey home. (2 pictures)

Some fun with a nun and a yellow submarine; photos from my brother in Japan. (4 pictures)

Yet another set of photos, from Kubota Hiromichi in Japan. (5 pictures)

Photos from my sister unearthed in 2004. (9 pictures)

Yellow submarine rides again; images from the owner Benoît sent in late 2004. (2 pictures)

Video footage of the event is available to download! Click here.

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